Plans to help the people of Ukraine following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam are centred on saving people “right now”, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told UN News in an interview on Friday.
Plans to help the people of Ukraine following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam are centred on saving people “right now”, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told UN News in an interview on Friday.
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL ROSEMARY A. DICARLO’S
REMARKS TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON
COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS
AND THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
New York, 8 June 2023
Thank you, Mr. President [H.E. Mr. Khalifa Shaheen, Minister of State and Foreign Affairs]
I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Security Council on our cooperation with the League of Arab States. And I am honored to be speaking alongside His Excellency, Mr. Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League.
In recent years, multilateralism has come under great strain. Trust in institutions and processes has been sorely tested, most recently by the uneven response to the Covid crisis. Defiance of international law and the norms that bind us is making international and regional cooperation to maintain peace and security ever more difficult.
In such a fraught context, it is heartening that the relationship between the United Nations and the League remains robust.
As the Secretary-General reminds us in the report before you, cooperation with the League of Arab States, consistent with Chapter VIII of the Charter, serves to enhance collective security.
In that report, the Secretary-General reviews the areas of cooperation and engagement of our two organizations across the region.
Today, I would like to highlight issues of common concern and some additional developments since the report was prepared.
On Sudan, where fighting is devastating the lives of civilians and destroying the future of the country, the Jeddah Agreement —- brokered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States on 20 May — gave rise to much hope.
Unfortunately, the parties have failed to implement the Agreement. Furthermore, the Sudanese Armed Forces announced the suspension of their participation in the talks, citing the Rapid Support Forces’ violations of the ceasefire.
It is critical that the parties remain committed to the ceasefire agreement. But this will not be enough. We need a permanent cessation of hostilities and, eventually, a resumption of the political process.
In that regard, we commend the League, as well as the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and Sudan’s other partners, for their efforts to support peace in Sudan.
Coordination of our various efforts is essential to maximize our impact in support of the Sudanese people. The role of the region will be key to end the conflict.
The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory keeps deteriorating. Last month, we witnessed yet another devastating escalation in Gaza, with tragic loss of life on both sides and further damage to fragile infrastructure.
Tensions also continue to simmer, and regularly boil over, in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Unilateral actions, including settlement expansion and violence against Israeli and Palestinian civilians, continue to undermine our collective efforts to realize a two-State solution.
The acute financial and institutional challenges facing the Palestinian Authority, and lack of progress on advancing intra-Palestinian unity and the holding of general elections, must all be addressed.
I echo the Secretary-General’s call to ensure full funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The Agency plays a critical role for Palestine refugees and regional stability. The World Food Programme also needs immediate financial support to continue vital assistance to Palestinians.
We share a common goal with the League: the two-State solution that realizes the legitimate national aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis, in line with international law and UN resolutions. This is the only path to sustainable peace between the two peoples.
Mr. President,
We followed the outcomes of the 19 May Summit of the League of Arab States closely, taking note that many of the adopted resolutions highlighted issues of mutual interest, as well as our ongoing cooperation in numerous areas.
We welcome, among others, the Summit’s resolution [824] on developments in Libya. This is a demonstration of the League’s engagement on this issue, including as a member of the Libya Quartet along with the UN.
We commend, in particular, the League’s expression of support for ongoing UN efforts to find a political solution for Libya.
In the coming weeks and months, the international community will need to remain united behind elections in Libya by the end of 2023.
Libyans want to elect their leaders, restore legitimacy to their institutions and end the cycle of endless political transitions. They have already had to wait too long to do so.
Regarding Syria, we take note of Arab meetings in Amman and Jeddah, and the resolution adopted at the Jeddah Summit, which reflected the importance of Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), the only internationally agreed roadmap to resolve the Syrian conflict.
If the renewed regional attention on Syria is translated into action, we could see momentum build towards a negotiated political settlement of the conflict.
Addressing the fate of the detained, the disappeared and the missing is essential to move closer towards sustainable peace. We call on all parties to take meaningful steps to this end. We urge Member States to support the establishment of an institution dedicated to the missing.
Regarding refugees, protection concerns need to be addressed more visibly, transparently and systematically.
We will continue to work with all, as the United Nations facilitates a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned political process.
We cannot do this alone. We need the support of all key actors, in particular the Member States of the League.
Mr. President,
The Arab region faces a range of urgent challenges related to peace and security, development, and climate change.
But the region also possesses immense potential, particularly in its young men and women. 60 percent of the population is under 30 years old.
Together, we continue to encourage Member States to engage with and invest in Arab youth. That is not only the right thing to do; it is also the sensible thing to do for the region’s future.
Earlier this year, we supported the League in the development of an Arab regional youth, peace and security strategy.
This involved a consultative process that enabled the voices of over 300 young people from 13 countries to be heard, achieving a level of outreach and public engagement unimaginable not so long ago.
We are now looking at ways the UN can support the implementation of this strategy.
We encourage the League’s Member States to use it to guide regional, subregional and national implementation of Security Council resolution 2250 (2015) and other relevant aspects of the Youth, Peace and Security agenda.
As highlighted in the Secretary-General’s report, we also continue supporting, through the UN Liaison Office and in close cooperation with UN Women, the League’s efforts to implement Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) as well as the Arab Women Mediators Network and the Action Plan for Women Peace and Security in the Arab region.
Mr. President,
These are but a few examples of how our ongoing cooperation deepens and expands to address new and emerging priorities, including through the UN Liaison Office to the League of Arab States.
The Office continues to strengthen our communication and cooperation, while facilitating regular contacts between UN Special Envoys and the League.
And, as always, we stand ready to work closely together with the League on various mediation efforts in the region, through joint, coordinated and focused action.
Next year, we will organize our sixteenth United Nations – League of Arab States General Cooperation Meeting to review our biennial framework, take stock of our accomplishments and open new avenues for cooperation.
This meeting will bring together all the departments, agencies, funds and programmes of our two systems, acknowledging the significance of the peace-humanitarian-development nexus.
We are committed to meeting our common challenges – and seize the opportunities before us – in the Arab world and beyond.
Together, we can achieve what neither organization could achieve on its own.
Thank you.
The UN’s top official in Ukraine reassured the country’s Foreign Minister on Thursday that the Organization has been working to provide support and aid to civilians affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam since the first hours of the disaster.
From settling the conflict in Sudan to realizing a two-State solution in Israel and Palestine, cooperation with the League of Arab States is key to stabilizing the region, Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told the Security Council on Thursday.
During their nearly four-year reign of terror in Iraq, ISIL extremists developed at least eight chemical agents, tested them on humans, and carried out at least 13 attacks, UN experts reported on Thursday.
New York, 8 June 2023
The ocean is the foundation of life.
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The ocean is our planet’s greatest reservoir of biodiversity.
Its resources sustain communities, prosperity and human...
DPPA’s Strategic Plan is accompanied by a Results Framework to assist in the monitoring and evaluation of the Department’s performance in the period 2023-2026. The Results Framework not only allows tracking of results but also supports horizontal coherent planning across all DPPA divisions. It articulates the core work of the Department in 21 Outcomes. The Department will report on a six-monthly basis against the 51 quantitative indicators of the Framework. These indicators monitor the performance of the Department vis-à-vis targets which will be updated on a yearly basis.
Tens of thousands of civilians in Ukraine are in danger on the frontline, after the apparent destruction of a huge dam on Tuesday, which the UN chief described as a “monumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe” resulting directly from Russia’s invasion of the country.
Five countries have been elected as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council following a vote in the General Assembly on Tuesday.
Thousands of civilians in Ukraine are in danger on the frontline, after the apparent destruction of a huge dam whose reservoir is used to cool the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP), UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
Despite critical gains by Central African nations in advancing stability and cooperation, the region faces multiple crises, and the coming months mark “an important turning point”, the top UN official there told the Security Council on Monday.
A staggering 315,000 grave violations against children in conflict took place between 2005 and 2022, said UN Children’s Fund UNICEF on Monday, describing it as a “stark illustration of the devastating impact of war” on the young.
Kourou/Koualou, a tiny village in a neutral zone straddling Benin and Burkina Faso, was the centre of a one-million-litre-a-year cross-border illicit fuel trade, a snapshot of a phenomenon that spreads far across the 6,000-kilometre-wide African Sahel region.
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From 30 May to 2 June, UNOAU participated in the 2nd AU workshop on the review of the AU Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) policy in Cairo, Egypt. Participants included officials from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and the AU Commission (AUC), represented by the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, and the AU High Representative for...
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL ROSEMARY A. DICARLO’S
REMARKS TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON
NON-PROLIFERATION/DPRK
New York, 2 June 2023
Madam President,
At 6:37 am local time on 31 May, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched what it described as a military reconnaissance satellite from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station.
The rocket crashed off the Korean Peninsula’s western coast after losing thrust following the separation of its first and second stages.
The DPRK attributed the failure of the launch to the low reliability of an unspecified “new-type engine system and fuel.” Official media said the country would conduct a second launch as soon as possible.
On 30 May, the DPRK sent a pre-launch notification to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Other international organisations, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) were not notified.
Madam President,
As the DPRK affirms, it is the right of a sovereign state to launch a satellite and to benefit from space activities. However, Council resolutions expressly prohibit the DPRK from conducting any launches using ballistic missile technology.
On 30 May, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the DPRK’s satellite launch using ballistic missile technology.
He called on the DPRK to refrain from conducting further satellite launches using such technology and to swiftly resume dialogue to achieve the goal of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Madam President,
The last time the DPRK conducted a similar launch was on 7 February 2016. In its resolution 2270 (2016), the Security Council condemned that launch, in which ballistic missile technology was used, in violation of relevant resolutions.
On 29 May, the Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea justified the need for the DPRK to launch a military reconnaissance satellite as a response to ongoing military exercises in the region.
It should be recalled that developing a military reconnaissance satellite was part of the DPRK’s five-year military development plan. That plan was unveiled during the 8th Party Congress in January 2021, well before the resumption of military exercises in the region.
In line with its five-year plan, the DPRK greatly increased its missile launch activities in 2022 and 2023, including more than 80 launches using ballistic missile technology.
Pyongyang characterised these launches as involving systems with nuclear weapon roles, including so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons.
Further, the DPRK has continued to make references to the possible use of nuclear weapons since our last briefing.
Separately, we have been following reports that illicit cyber activities attributed to DPRK-affiliated actors continue.
According to the final report of the Panel of Experts submitted pursuant to resolution 2627 (2022), DPRK-affiliated actors stole more in cryptocurrency in 2022 than ever before.
Madam President,
Key peace and security issues, such as the situation on the Korean Peninsula, must be an area for cooperation.
We welcome the Security Council’s commitment, as expressed in resolution 2397 (2017), to a peaceful, comprehensive, diplomatic, and political solution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Diplomacy – not isolation - is the only way forward.
However, the lack of unity and action in the Security Council does little to slow the negative trajectory on the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK is unconstrained, and other parties are compelled to focus on military deterrence.
Madam President,
I would like to highlight once more our concerns regarding the humanitarian situation in the DPRK. The United Nations is ready to assist the DPRK in addressing basic needs of vulnerable populations.
We welcome the return of diplomats from one Member State to Pyongyang on 27 March.
We reiterate our call on the DPRK to allow the unimpeded entry of international staff, including the United Nations Resident Coordinator, and of humanitarian supplies, to enable a timely and effective response.
Let me close by stressing that the Secretary-General remains firmly committed to achieving the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.
He welcomes the recent re-affirmation by the Republic of Korea of its commitment to its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Thank you, Madam President.
As the crisis in Sudan enters its second month, UN agencies and partners warned on Friday that the conflict between rival military groups since mid-April is fuelling an increasingly “desperate” situation for civilians, especially in the nation’s capital.
As the crisis in Sudan enters its second month, UN agencies and partners warned on Friday that the conflict between rival military groups since mid-April is fuelling an increasingly “desperate” situation for civilians, especially in the nation’s capital.
